Did Spotify discover a new marketing strategy?
Have you heard the news about Spotify’s audiobook add on? I was surprised that the news isn’t as prevalent on my social media accounts as I expected, neither on the readers’ nor the authors’ sides.
Spotify expanded its audio empire by offering eligible paid Premium subscribers in the United Kingdom and Australia 15 hours of monthly audiobook listening. You can read the press release here.
Do you listen to audiobooks? How often?
I absolutely love audiobooks. I own several hundred audiobooks, from cassettes via CDs to iTunes purchases.
I had to have audiobooks for my own books, and they are.
I believe in 2024, they will add other countries like the US.
I must tell you the truth: I always thought audiobooks were included in the subscription. I learned this is not the case only after adding my audiobooks to Spotify.
Pitfalls for Listeners
While this development is undoubtedly exciting for listeners, it’s essential to acknowledge some potential pitfalls for users. One potential concern is the limitation of 15 hours per month. This cap may be restrictive for voracious readers or those listening to audiobooks during long commutes. Additionally, while Spotify’s audiobook library is extensive, it may not have all the titles users desire, particularly for niche or hard-to-find works.
Jessie Grean is 8 hours and 40 minutes long, and Say What Now? is 8 hours long. That credit of 15 hours would cover it.
Pitfalls for audiobook publishers
Spotify is primarily a music streaming platform. With this move, I can only assume they want to grow their subscriber base.
The first was buying one of the biggest audiobook distributors in the US. As an author, I am still waiting for what Spotify’s control of audiobook distribution will mean. Some things down their pipeline have yet to be revealed.
This may be their first move, removing a page from the indie author’s marketing strategy. Some indie authors offer a free first book in a series to entice readers, and in Spotify’s case, it’s 15 free hours to get audiophiles and readers to sign up for their services.
The other problem I heard about is the way or how much Spotify is paying its artists. A couple of years ago, I read a lot of criticism that Spotify pays peanuts to musicians. From what I could gather, musicians receive $0.003 to $0.0005 per stream. So artists need millions of streams to make some form of income.
As I mentioned above, audiobooks weren’t part of the subscription. This guaranteed the publisher, for example, me, a specific amount, aka the purchase price. With the new audiobook subscription part, having my audiobooks on the streaming platforms might become attainable.
In fact, I was recently reading about authors who pulled their audiobooks from most places and added them to their YouTube channel for free to monetize the channel.
Coming Soon to the US
I have yet to sell my audiobooks in the UK or Australia, so I cannot confirm the audiobook streaming numbers. However, I will keep my eyes and ears open about other authors’ experiences.
I will rethink my audiobook strategy once the rollout extends to the US.
Audiobooks are extremely expensive to produce, and if I were earning pennies from them on Spotify, I would pull them out.
Boundary pushing or following in Audible footsteps
Still, Audible, Amazon’s audiobook subscription service, is one of the biggest providers of audiobooks within the subscription business model. Because Audible is so dominant, it started to screw over narrators and authors to make promises to listeners, like unlimited free returns. However, the authors paid for that, which resulted in major disputes between Amazon and audiobook creators. You can learn about all the issues at Audiblegate.
Spotify continues to push boundaries in its efforts to enter the audiobook market. Still, its strategies will determine whether it can establish its audiobook venture with sound business practices or whether another mud bath with authors will ensue.
What do you think about the Audiobook offer for Premium subscribers?
[…] What do you think about the offer? Or is Audible not for You and you prefer a different streaming provider like Spotify. […]